Job Discussion Forums

[weigookin74]

Cost of living? Let's say, free housing and a teir 2 type of city. If you can make 10 to 12 thousand RMB. What would your deductions be? Also, what does daily life cost? How much money can you realistically send home to repay debts? SK won is tanking badly and it's time to move on. (No money to be made there anymore.)

[BleedingBlue]

The use of a phrase like "teir 2 type of city" (i before e, except after c) means absolutely zero. You rightfully need to actually name the city. The are hardly all the same in relation to their capital, to tourist attractions, and so on. So, let's me more concise, shall we? Everyone's daily cost is different. I am not some lame foreigner that came to China and then moan and groan about the high cost of foreign food and seek out foreign restaurants, and foreign friends and the like. I'm no different, (85%+) like any Chinese. I splurge once a year on foreign things. Turkey from Taobao is currently defrosting in my refrigerator. China is not a country to haphazardly come to to payoff student loans. There is money to be made in Korea if you are not a certified criminal and have high education. That's the issue?

[damn_my_eyes]

Here's bleeding blue waiting for his turkey to defrost.

http://www.thecreativeidentity.com/.a/6a0120a55b3333970c0148c6f7fc6e970c-pi

[Markness]

I'm in a tier 2 type of city. I make in the range your saying and am able to save about 5 to 6 thousand of it. I live with my girlfriend and she doesn't work. I've got a little bit of savings but just sent her on a big vacation as a birthday gift. Stuff like that eats away at the savings.

To break it down, 2k a month for a 2 br apartment, about 4 to 5k rmb goes to monthly livings. Food from taobao like bacon adds up sometimes. And if you like to go out on a date once in a while then it can add up. If you're a club kind of guy then you can easily spend 500rmb in a night, do that a few times a week and.. Well...

If you want even more details then let me know

[Markness]

Oh oh oh... Also, you can do better than that if you work more than one job. A lot of people at my school do this and double their income almost. They can get about 15k a month which is pretty dang solid. Work at a place to get a visa, work at the other place on the weekend or something. If you're a workaholic then the only person stopping you is you. I prefer to do good at one job and make the same as the people who work more than one. That plus I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend, if you don't care for that and don't need an exciting social life then you can work a lot and save even more!

[ESL104]

I never really understood why everyone thought Korea was any good for savings to begin with.

I mean the average salary of 2.1 million won is $1900. They actively hunt down people doing privates or extra work over there so the scope to increase that amount isn't that great.

I've heard people say it's 'possible' to save $1000 a month over there using some spartan budgeting methods...but sorry, $1000 a month is not a lot of money, especially not for doing some awful split shift at a hagwon. That amount of cash saved per month doesn't impress anyone except maybe ESL teachers in Cambodia or the Sudan. Plus there's no vacation time whatsoever.

If you got a 5000rmb/16 hour a week job in China, then 10 hours a week of 200rmb an hour privates in a language centre or something, that's 13500rmb a month, or $2200. You're working less hours, have a lot more vacation, and using the same budgeting methods you used in Korea should be able to save $1500 of that a month.

I;ve done pretty extensive research into this topic when deciding where I wanted to go after Thailand and I really can't see Korea's attraction at all. Are the women there all supermodels or something because otherwise I just don't get it?

[Markness]

Sorry to derail, the pull factor to Korea is that they give you an apartment and airfare straight away, plus decent enough savings for people to pay off university debt. Throw in a wife and pressure from their parents to settle down and you'll see why people stay. Plus they pay for your kids to go to kindergartens there and it's not as lawless as the Middle Kingdom. Korean gals I hear dress better but don't have the same natural beauty as the gals here.

Sorry to derail!

But yes, you can definitely earn more here if you aren't too lazy to walk over to an another school and say "do you need an another teacher?". The simple practice allows one to get a job immediately.

[jm21]

It depends how you live. I would think 3k rmb + housing will give an ok lifestyle. Some western food, eat out at mostly cheaper or middle-of-the-road places. Very few trips to bars or clubs. Excluding vacation costs.

If you ate like a thrifty Chinese person you could survive on a couple hundred each month, but not really my thing. Like one of the traditional dishes this time of year around here is a sort of cabbage soup with glass noodles and tofu. Probably costs 5yuan for a meal for 2 people. Actually tastes really good but I wouldn't want to eat it every day.

If you're a chain-smoking alcoholic vegetarian the cost of living here is very low compared to almost any country. If you only want steak and good wine for dinner and like to go to western restaurants it would be very expensive to live here.

Saw turkey at the store this morning. Holy *beep*. 50yuan for 1kg. Who in their right mind would pay that kind of money for dry, tasteless, boring ass turkey?

[ESL104]

[MuscatGary]